Windbound Reviews

Just finished playing this on Youtube (link at end of review for anyone who wants to see a gameplay sample before buying) and enjoyed it overall. Windbound's gameplay isn't anything special, and I'll admit there is a bit of subjectivity here given that I really enjoy games with nautical elements to them. On one level, Windbound is your typical survival game - you have to explore the in-game world, gathering resources such as food and crafting materials whilst managing your limited inventory. Though whereas a lot of other survival games eventually reach a point where you can settle on one part of the map, reach resource abundance or even go down the route of base-building, Windbound is a little different. For starters, the map is an archipelago - a series of small islands that you have to sail between. What this means is that you cannot just settle on one island and hope that the resources there alone will be enough to sustain you. Instead, you have to keep moving - sail to each island, gather whatever key resources you can carry, then move on to the next island and so on. Throughout this process you'll unlock crafting recipes, build and upgrade your boat, and unravel bits of the story as you progress through each of the game's 5 chapters. Furthermore, there's no real base-building here - your boat is the closest thing you'll get to a base, and even then the options for upgrading it are pretty simple and straightforward. The game instead wants you to go sailing and exploring every little island and outcrop you can find in each chapter. As a result, there can be a bit of a steep learning curve at first if you're going into this expecting it to be the sort of survival game where you can eventually just establish a static camp/base. Combat can also be challenging at first, often pitching you against fairly sturdy beasts and enemies where you have to lock on, dodge attacks and seize quick openings to attack. This can be particularly challenging if you're playing on the Survivalist difficulty, which causes you to lose most of your inventory and resets you to chapter 1 if you die. For those wanting a less intense difficulty, I recommend the Adventurer difficulty level, which is more forgiving as it doesn't reset you to chapter 1 if you die, plus it lets you keep your boat and inventory. But once you figure out the gameplay, Windbound becomes a sedate (albeit a little repetitive) ride. The visuals are gorgeous and colourful, and the story was decent enough to keep my interest. The sailing mechanics vaguely remind many players of sailing in Wind Waker, having to take the wind direction into account. Overall, if you like more sedate survival games with pretty visuals, then Windbound is well worth a try. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poeN9Obt3Uc&list=PL05Yc3_TEBpO4wzu7DMWRHE88efkL3LxY&index=28

Pros: Beautiful game with amazing art style and with incredibly captivating music. Sometimes it's calm and peaceful, and sometimes it creates drama. I recommend playing the game with a controller - the combat system will be more enjoyable in this case. The sailing mechanics are very close to real life. Cons: There was a bug - a sandworm appears from underground and jumps into the rock textures, from where it can no longer get out. After several restarts of the game, the worm finally started jumping in the right direction. The game seems abandoned by the developers. I wish the gameplay was a little longer. Verdict: I would say it's a hidden gem in the indi games industry. 100% recommendation from me.

Not my style of game, although someone might find it interesting. The game has a cycle that you follow and get to choose the path on which you take that cycle, but I think the food getting part could use some balancing. Otherwise fun game, just not my type of game.